Through-the-wall stovepipe/chimney (no internal rise?)

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RichGraham

New Member
Oct 21, 2014
6
Canonsburg, PA
I'm considering installing a small-medium woodstove (Jotul F3CB) in a single-floor home, and I'm educating myself about chimney options. One option nobody seems to mention is running the stove pipe out of the back of the stove and directly through the wall, then 90degrees up along the outside wall. Every example I see runs the stove pipe a few feet vertically inside the building, then through the wall, then up the outside.

Why not directly outside and then up? Is that a bad idea?

Thank you.
 
Aesthetics . . . and draft . . . I am thinking.

I am also thinking you also realize that the stove pipe has a transition in the exterior wall and hooks into a Class A metal chimney . . . not that the stovepipe will go all the way through the wall and then up the side of the house (although in my neck of the woods I have seen folks do just that . . . and then folks wonder why their house burned down.)
 
Yes, I realize the stovepipe is on the interior, and the chimney is on the exterior, and they are different things. And, there must some kind of transition device in the wall.

For me aesthetics suggests venting directly out the back of the stove and through the wall (no stovepipe visible), while drafting is enhanced by venting through the stove top and straight up through the ceiling.

In other words, I think it would look prettier my way, but I don't know how much the draft will suffer, or if there are other reasons for me not to go the pretty route.

How much does the draft suffer in that configuration?
 
A lot of the gains one would experience with an interior vertical are negated by the introduction of two additional 90 degree bends (which would then have to be reclaimed by a higher chimney, so even more colder, slower to heat up temperature decreasing by distance....).

Obviously the question will be a moot point if the building codes don't allow it, but there are many reasons why most would avoid it (by the way, my installation is direct rear exit).

The ideal, of course, is straight up interior, anything else is a restriction to some degree or other.

Having a horizontal direct outlet locks one into a specific stove or exit height that should the stove have to be replaced it would have to be identical, a smaller stove on a raised hearth or a total reconfiguration of the wall thimble.

Some codes (or accepted methods) would say that one has to have the ability to disconnect from or access the chimney without having to move the stove (mine is on thick furniture moving pads, it can be slid out easy enough across a polished marble tile floor that is the hearth).

Going right into a chimney could introduce some issues such as clearance to the stove collar, possibly a higher temperature for passing through the wall either by being closer to the stove (though that would be an aid to the exterior part of the chimney) or any additional heat transmitted to the outer layer of the chimney pipe (I keep a magnetic thermometer on the exposed portion of the horizontal chimney pipe before it enters the wall, so far I have not seen temperatures of any concern, but then again, my stove has an insulated back).

The idea that going vertical as quickly as possible increases the draw (though as I first said, I do question the effectiveness when adding two additional restrictions, and for me, my stove already bucks that rationality by exhaust going horizontally within my stove plus fully through a downdraught when the bypass is closed).

As for the connection, I use a 6T/DSP-CPA to connect to my chimney (selkirk ultra/sure temp) which is a short connector.

For me, I live in an area where building codes and inspections are at best the realm of banks issuing mortgages or how stringent insurance underwriters are, which means I made my choices on my best efforts of researching available materials and guides, and balancing common sense and risk management with what I wanted to accomplish, what I wanted to avoid, and the space in which I had to work with and/or wished not to change. The safest answer, of course, would be to have no stove (or heating appliance) at all, but since that would entail living in the tropics, it's a matter of doing your best to over-engineer and minimise risks, and hopefully I was able to do that with my situation and the choices I allowed my self to make. In the absence of codes or rules that would say you can not direct exit, you would have to do the same evaluation of pros and cons while maintaining as much safety as possible. The most effective chimney is the most direct, but is it the best in all circumstances, that part I certainly can not answer, especially since every situation is unique in one way or another.
 
AKBear - are you saying your installation is as I'm proposing? Straight out the back, through the wall, then a single 90 degree to go vertical outside the building?
 
AKBear - are you saying your installation is as I'm proposing? Straight out the back, through the wall, then a single 90 degree to go vertical outside the building?
Yes, horizontal from the rear exit collar on the stove to the Tee outdoors, then vertical all the way to the cap, no offsets or bends except for the Tee.
 
I have a Jotul F600 with the install you are talking about; directly out the rear and through the wall. My horizontal run is 28.5 inches long with one inch of rise out of the stove to the 90. My stack is 24 feet tall and I have not yet had a day when the draft wasn't strong enough to snuff out a match. Warm day, cool day, rainy day, awesome draft.
 
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One thing that I am not a fan about when venting out the back on wood stove is the location of the tee on the outside, usually it means that the chimney will be closer to the ground, which I would think would be a pain to clean the chimney. Just personal preference though
 
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